Hate and Love
by The Genius Mage
Summary: They both hated each other, as everyone knew. They bickered every chance they got. Then why did Stan look so uneasy, and what was he trying to say? But of course, there's a fine line between love and hate. Stan and Rosalyn.


_**So...irritating...if there are any more active writers in this Okage section, please do me a favor and write a StanxRosalyn one. Seriously. Now I have to. **_

Hate and Love

Rosalyn was just...walking. She wasn't going anywhere in particular. As a Hero she was just wandering around until something happened. She supposed she better stop near Madril, the town was _always _in trouble. Thieves, gang members, thugs. Just what you would expect in a big city like that.

She turned her head to survey the river that ran parallel to her path. It was clear, almost gold in the sunlight. She stopped to lean forward and look at her reflection.

Same hair. Same clothes. But luckily...Rosalyn smiled to herself. No pink shadow. That issue had been resolved in the winter. It was spring now. New beginnings and all of that. She stared at her reflection for a while longer, then prepared to set off again. Wait...

She looked out of the corner of her eyes at the river. Something had moved. In one smooth motion she drew her rapier, brandishing it.

"Who's there?" Rosalyn demanded.

_He _stepped out of the shadows. _He_ smirked nastily. "What a pleasure to see you, Rosalyn."

"You stupid-Wait." She stared, trying to ignore the warm shiver that just passed through her body when he said her name. "Did you just call me _Rosalyn_?"

Comically, he looked confused. He smoothed back his blonde hair, fingers passing over his pointed ears. "That's your name." He flashed her an uneasy fanged smile.

Uneasy? That wasn't like Stan.

"Yeah...but..you never..." She shook her head, raising her rapier again. "What do you want?"

_He's just playing mind games. _Rosalyn told herself.

Stan sauntered toward her, grinning crookedly. "Well, fine, Hero woman. If you'd rather get derogatory titles..."

Rosalyn pointed her weapon directly at Stan's throat. "What do you want?" She said each word with slow emphasis.

Stan knocked the sword aside with the back of his hand. Rosalyn kept a firm grip on it though, so she didn't drop it.

"What. Do. You. Want." She repeated, narrowing her eyes to slits.

Stan scoffed. "Calm down. I'll tell you."

Suddenly he grabbed her by her shirt collar and hauled her to the tree. She hit the tree heavily, leaves swirling around them. Everything suddenly felt cold and dark.

"What?! Get _off _of me!" Rosalyn tried to move but Stan held her still. His yellow eyes flared with his silent laughter.

"Wait, I want to savor this moment. You, helpless..."

"I'm not helpless." She hissed into his face. She could always use her Hero power, it was always there, but she disliked using magic over her sword. Nothing could be done about that at the moment.

She summoned the energy and let the Light burst forth. Stan was thrown backwards, slamming into the ground. Rosalyn quickly settled into a combat stance, tracing her rapier across the Evil King's throat.

He just grinned crookedly. "You wouldn't. You couldn't." He sunk into the ground, transforming into his shadow form before rising again in front of her. He smirked.

"What do you mean I _couldn't, _you-"

Stan grabbed both of her wrists, forcing her to drop her sword. It clattered to the ground. His eyes burned into hers. Her heart rate jumped, and he solidified back into his demon form.

"Could you strike me down? Honestly? After all we've been through?"

Rosalyn hesitated, and his grin only widened.

"You know..." Stan released her, and she scooped her rapier off the ground.

And put it back in its sheath.

"You make me feel...really odd..." He walked away and stopped near the banks of the river.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"Being with you is strange." He turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I enjoy arguing with you, and I don't hate your presence as much as I once did. And when you leave..." Stan crossed his arms.

Rosalyn half wanted to stay, and half wanted to leave. She decided to leave before this weird feeling got any stronger. "That's it."

She turned around and suddenly Stan flitted over and was right in front of her, sneering.

"It's not nice to walk out on people."

"So?" Rosalyn tried to walk around him but he cut her off.

"Don't you know? You're a Hero. I'm an Evil King. Aren't Heroes honorable?" His smirk widened.

Rosalyn sighed. "Then spit it out. We're burning daylight."

"How...do you feel about me?" He said in his throaty growl.

Rosalyn said immediately, "You're a haughty Evil King who is all talk and no action. You're stupid and cruel and mean. And I don't want to waste another minute-"

"Do you really mean that?" His asked in a weird tone. His yellow eyes flicked to the side, he looked uneasy again.

"_Hell_ yeah!" Rosalyn walked down the path, and to her irritation Stan followed. But he didn't say or do anything. Just walked.

After walking a good couple of miles, Rosalyn headed off the path again to sit near the river. As she expected, Stan did the same.

"What do you want?" She said in an exasperated tone.

"A better answer..." He grumbled.

"Better? I wasn't done yet. Want me to resume, you stupid fake evil being?"

He didn't bristle like she thought he would. Didn't get angry. Just...sat.

Rosalyn looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. His head was down, hiding his expression in shadow, but his hands were still moving. He was making something out of the white flowers that grew alongside the river.

Rosalyn asked, "What answer did you expect?"

"I take it back. I shouldn't have expected anything from a washbowl Hero woman."

"That's it! No more." Rosalyn was so freaking _irritated _with the Evil King. He was obviously trying to say something, but he wouldn't _spit it out! _She stalked off.

"Wait!"

Rosalyn froze. There was something like desperation in his tone. She turned back around and walked back to her spot, but refused to sit down with him.

"Finally gonna say something?"

"Yes." He growled. "You just have to be patient."

"You've been walking with me for _half the day!"_

"Calm down, woman. Allow me to..." He showed what he had been making. "Get to the point."

It was a white flower heart. She took it, amazed by how light and expertly crafted it was. She turned it over and over in her hands.

Wait.

God NO.

The Evil King...King Gohma reincarnate, couldn't be...

"Is this...what I think it is? Tell me it's a joke." Rosalyn said, too stunned for anything else.

Stan stood up, crossing his arms and smirking. "No joke, Hero woman."

She looked at it, then back at Stan, then the heart. Evil Kings didn't always have to destroy...

Wait. _Hell yeah they did_. Hence the word "Evil"! If anything, being with him would just corrupt her.

_Or maybe you can cure him. _A voice whispered in her mind.

She tried to ignore it. Didn't work.

"What, no thank you?"

"Thank...you." She said grudgingly. Was this a trick? What did he want?

Stan just watched her with a patient expression on his face as she kept thinking.

Evil Kings, former or not, were bad. Just like how Linda had been dumped by Epros. Of course, he claimed to have a really good reason that he couldn't say.

_Suure._

She stared at Stan, finally sighing. Heroes should be honest.

"Is it okay to say I'm confused?" She smirked slightly.

"You better believe it, woman. So am I."

Rosalyn felt a breeze tickle her skin. Usually she was on hyper alert when Stan was here, but she felt strangely...relaxed...

***

_What the hell made me go talk to her_? Stan asked himself for the eighteenth time. Rosalyn kept brushing back a strand of her hair from her eyes, and she seemed unaware that she was doing so. She just kept turning the flower over and over in her hands, brushing the white petals that made up the heart.

He remembered, once, for kicks, he had asked Ari what the perfect wife would be for him. He had said something about a beautiful demon. Stan smirked at the memory. Was Rosalyn a demon? He knew nothing was going to happen until he said something...

"What do you think of me now?" He asked her quietly.

She froze, then lifted her eyes. "Um...the opinion has changed now."

Stan's heart lifted. As an Evil King, he was used to just taking what he wanted. Hence why he had thrown her against the tree...that wouldn't have improved her opinion of him...no, he had to be a little more patient to hear what he wanted to hear.

"Well, woman?" He growled.

"I think you're still a pompous wannabe Evil being with the brain cells of a pig."

"Don't get me confused with _you_." Stan replied before he could stop himself. Rosalyn smiled.

"But I think you have a nicer side that no one else sees. Or maybe everyone does." The Hero slipped the heart into her pack, then walked over to a cluster of the flowers and started setting a tent up from her bag.

"I don't even feel like walking anymore. You better not have done this just to hold me up from Madril so your minions or something could-"

"Stop being so paranoid!"

"Hey, you're Evil." Rosalyn grinned, setting the pegs into the ground. Stan started helping her, and she didn't say anything, so it must have been okay.

Not that he would have stopped even if it wasn't.

They both reached for the bag at the same time, and Stan ended up with his hand on top of her's. Her skin was really warm to touch, at least compared to his own, which was about twenty degrees lower than her's.

She stiffened, her hand frozen on the peg she was undoubtedly reaching for.

Stan grinned, wrapping his fingers around her's. Rosalyn glared at him, but he was delighted to see the blush creeping up on her face.

"Let. Go."

"Do you want me to?" He teased, but his eyes were sharp.

Rosalyn lifted her hand from her bag and glared at him. His response was to tighten his fingers and smile wider. Stan pulled his hand back quickly when she sent a pulse of ice through her skin.

"I know why your element is Ice, you cutout Hero. You're cold." Stan sulked.

Rosalyn just glared and went back to work. After it was finished, she laid on her stomach in the flowers near the river. The sun was beginning to set.

"Go home, Stan." She said in a tired tone.

"What, and bother my slave some more? No. All that worthless protoplasm does is make doe eyes at Marlene."

"I'm glad he found someone." She murmured, her eyes drooping.

"What about you?"

Rosalyn slid her eyes over to him. "What do you care?"

_Time to be direct._

"I care if that person...isn't me."

She stiffened, instantly sitting up. "What did you say?"

***

Rosalyn was beginning to get tired. She wasn't even sure why, usually she was wide awake. Probably the stress of having a dumb Evil King stalking her all day!

Still, his hand on her's had felt-

_No, don't even go there!_

She just stretched out on the grass, letting the flowers caress her skin. Wishing Stan would go _home._

"What, and bother my slave some more? No. All that worthless protoplasm does is make doe eyes at Marlene."

As usual, she smiled at the memory of the quiet boy. She was still really tired.

"I'm glad he found someone."

Unexpectedly, Stan asked, "What about you?"

She looked at him. "What do you care?"

He hesitated. "I care...if that person, isn't me."

_WHAT DID HE SAY?!_

Rosalyn sat up. "What did you say?"

Stan sat down next to her, closer than usual. So close she could feel his arm touching her's. But she didn't tell him to move, nor did she move her arm.

"I said..." He whispered in his rough whisper. "I care if that person isn't me."

Rosalyn crossed her arms, not saying anything for a while. Then:

"The person I would pick would have to know a lot about me."

Stan answered instantly. "I know _a lot _about you." He smirked. "I know you dislike having to have a pink shadow. It made your life hard." Was that regret?

"Never mind it was _your _fault."

"Yeah, ignore that, woman. I know you look at Annie, Ari's sister, as a sister of your own. I know you don't like Kisling much, you were too nice to attack Linda before she attacked, showing you're merciful enough to _not _beat around little girls..." His grin got bigger. "I know you're mostly just all talk to civilians, like Ari. You were just bluffing back in the Madril Sewer about killing him to kill me."

Rosalyn was amazed at how much he knew. She looked at him in surprise as he continued.

"You think Marlene, the real one, is much nicer than the doll. I agree. She's no fun anymore, though. You get annoyed with Big Bull for calling you 'Sister', but don't hate him for it. You're not sure what to think of Epros, but you lost a lot of respect for him since he broke up with Linda."

His voice got quieter.

"You like it when people refer to you as a Hero. You don't like to let people down, and you're easily flattered. Above all, you're a _good_ person..."

He looked at her, his eyes full of mocking laughter.

He knew so much.

"How..."

Stan took her face in one hand, and she found her breath coming faster. His yellow eyes glowed, his cold skin sending shivers through her body.

"We've known each other for about two years now." He whispered. "To be honest...Rosalyn, it's all of these little traits that make it so fun to argue with you. And that's why I love you."

There it was. Right there up front. What should she do? What did she feel?

_A Hero always tells the truth._

"So, who _is_ your special someone?" He whispered. "If it's not me, I might have to incinerate him. Or at least it better be a _him_."

Rosalyn was too confused to be offended by the concept Stan just brought up. And he was still looking at her, fingers brushing her cheek. The blush was still there, and she hated every moment of it.

Or did she?

"My...special someone...is you." She admitted quietly.

***

Stan felt happiness surge through his entire being. _Yes! _Hah! His affections had not been given in vain!

Granted, she would be hard to convert to Evil, but he'd get to that.

_Do you _want_ to corrupt her? _His mind asked.

_Hell yeah. _His other side replied with a wicked laugh.

"I'm glad you feel the same way." He smirked. "I don't have to mind control you."

"Doesn't work on me...we're equally matched, my Hero powers counter that." She said with a smirk of her own.

Equally matched...

Did...Beiloune plan that?

Not that he cared what the former creator of their world thought.

In one quick movement Stan caught her in a hug, stroking her hair.

"Well, what do you know?" He mused to himself.

She crossed her arms, not pulling away, but that delicious blush was still on her face.

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, but her tone was amused.

"I didn't think there could be a happily ever after for Evil Kings."

Rosalyn looked at him from underneath her blonde hair. "I think...you're not an Evil King."

"Shut up, Hero woman."

"Hey, listen!" She shifted to look directly at him. "If you're trying to be my boyfriend or something, you get something straight right now! I have a name. _Rosalyn_."

Stan suppressed the urge to scoff, because he knew that wouldn't work.

"Fine...Rosy." He smirked hugely.

Rosalyn slapped him unexpectedly, and he touched the red mark on his cheek.

"Hey!" He objected. But before he could do anything Rosalyn wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

It was so unexpected that he actually didn't start kissing her back until he got his composure. She pulled away and walked over to her tent, looking up at the sky. The stars had appeared, turning the sky black with their presence. They shed their inadequate light down on the scene, the moon getting the job done. The twilight edges on the horizon were beginning to be dominated by the night.

"Look, if we're...starting this relationship, I still don't want you in my tent, you hear me?!" Before Stan could respond, she winked quickly. "At least, not at this stage."

When she vanished inside, taking her bag with her, Stan just leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head, and smirked at the moon.

"I win." He said to no one in particular.

"Actually, you don't." Rosalyn's voice replied.

"Oh? How so?"

"It's a checkmate. For now. But the queen can make any move she wants."

***

Ari heard Stan and Rosalyn before he saw them. They were walking up the path, arguing with each other.

"Stop freaking me out like that, okay?! KEEP MY SHADOW BLACK! I DON'T HAVE MY PARASOL WITH ME!"

Stan finally turned her shadow back to black, the pink fading quickly. He grinned. "Wait, I freak you out?" He laughed in a superior tone while Rosalyn fumed.

Then, Ari noticed how close they were, walking together with their arms touching. Never before had they done _that_.

Linda whispered behind him, "I knew they'd end up together. I just hope...she has better luck than Epros and I."

Marlene crossed her arms. "I don't recall inviting them..." She grumbled, but she was smiling. As was Ari, stepping forward to greet them.

***

_**Well, how was it? Even if you ask me to do, say, Epros and Linda, it'll be a while before it gets up. I typed this because this site really needs more Stan and Rosalyn fan fictions.**_

_**And yes, if I do Epros and Linda I'll explain why he broke up with her. It's part of a larger storyline plot involving everyone, called **_**Dark Tempest.**


End file.
